Elsevier

Pain Management Nursing

Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2004, Pages 105-117
Pain Management Nursing

Original articles
Gender differences in chronic pain—findings from a population-based study of Norwegian adults

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2004.01.004Get rights and content

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate for gender differences in the experience of chronic pain and the impact of chronic pain on quality of life (QOL). A total of 1,912 out of 4,000 Norwegian citizens returned a mailed questionnaire, and 24.4% reported chronic pain. More women than men reported chronic pain, and women reported significantly higher pain intensity scores than men did. Although the duration of chronic pain was similar in women and men, women more often received treatment for their chronic pain. Men in chronic pain reported a poorer QOL than women did. Although specific variables that predicted present pain intensity in women and men differed, the variables that explained the largest percentage of the variance in pain for both genders were the disease and the pain location variables. These findings support previously published studies that document gender differences in chronic pain and extend the work to the impact of chronic pain on QOL.

Section snippets

Sample and data collection procedures

A sample of 4,000 Norwegian citizens, aged 19 to 81 years, was randomly drawn from the National Register by Statistics Norway. This National Register, established by the Norwegian government in 1878, provides survey research data that are representative of the entire Norwegian population. The members of the sample were sent a questionnaire in November 2000 that invited them to participate in a study that was focused on evaluating QOL, health status, fatigue, hope, and pain in the general

Response rate

As outlined in Figure 1, of the 4,000 questionnaires sent out, 56 participants could not be contacted because of an unknown address or recent death. After the two mailings, 1,912 questionnaires were returned in all, which gives a response rate of 48.5%. Prior to the second mailing, 85% of the 1,912 responses had been returned.

Based on the demographic data from the National Register by Statistics Norway, a comparison was made between respondents and nonresponders. The overall characteristics of

Discussion

This study is the first to evaluate for gender differences in the factors that predict present pain intensity in a sample of individuals with chronic pain who were drawn from the general population in Norway. Of note, the percentage of explained variance in pain now differed between women (28%) and men (38%). In addition, although some of the variables that made significant independent contributions to the total explained variance (e.g., the presence of a chronic disease) were similar for both

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